DLA Piper Helps Captain Morgan’s Rum Find A New Home

Los Angeles Times reporters Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten profile how the giant British liquor producer of Captain Morgan’s rum, Diageo in London, will receive tax credits and other benefits to move production to the Virgin Islands from Puerto Rico. Washington lawyer John Merrigan, of the firm DLA Piper, helped Diageo negotiate the Virgin Islands agreement. Mr. Merrigan points out that government inducements are often provided to attract a new employer to a location needing economic development, citing similar arrangements made by both Tennessee and South Carolina to woo foreign automakers in selecting their states to locate new production plants.